Iranian-Canadian widow barred from leaving Iran hospitalized for three days

The wife of an Iranian-Canadian professor who died two months ago while in Iranian custody was hospitalized in Tehran this week after suffering serious anxiety attacks, her son says.

Ramin Seyed-Emami, who lives in Vancouver, said his mother, Maryam Mombeini, has been living alone since authorities barred her from leaving Iran on March 7. The trauma stemming from her husband’s death on Feb. 8 has caused her extreme physiological distress.

“She’s been going through so much emotionally and physically. And she doesn’t have her family to support her through this devastating time,” Ramin said. “We just want her out of there, to get on with our lives.”

Mombeini was eventually released from hospital on Thursday, although friends and family say she is in frail health and taking medication to calm her anxiety attacks. At times she is unable to get out of bed.

Kavous Seyed-Emami, 63, was an academic and environmental activist whose mysterious death inside Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison has been described as suspicious.

A judicial official and state-funded media accused Seyed-Emami of engaging in espionage, but no evidence of his alleged wrongdoings was made public, nor has an autopsy report been released.

The two sons, Ramin and Mehran Seyed-Emami, fled Iran for Vancouver more than two months ago after increasing pressure and harassment by government authorities to keep quiet on the matter. Mombeini was stopped at the airport and was denied permission to leave with her sons. Her passport was confiscated — Ramin said authorities have since been giving her the “bureaucratic runaround” to get it back.

Mehran Seyed-Emami (left) listens while his brother Ramin speak to reporters after arriving from Iran at Vancouver International Airport in March. Their mother, Maryam Mombeini, widow of Kavous Seyed-Emami, was barred from leaving Iran.RICHARD LAM /
PNG

Iranian authorities claimed the professor’s death was a suicide. Ottawa has called on Iran to conduct a thorough investigation.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has repeatedly stated the federal government is committed to reuniting Mombeini with her sons. Freeland’s parliamentary secretary, Omar Alghabra, said Canada “will not leave any stone unturned.”

“The assurance that I can give is that this is one of the highest priorities for our government,” Alghabra said. “We have been trying all kinds of diplomatic approaches to stress to Iranian authorities that we want to see her travel ban lifted.”

Alghabra added that Canada is now seeking the assistance of “likeminded countries.”

However, Hadi Ghaemi, director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, said Canada needs to put more pressure on Iran.

“I am very concerned that Maryam Mombeini’s health is only going to get worse while she remains there,” Ghaemi said. “The Canadian government should be publicly vocal of their concerns and lead other countries to join in on that.”

The Center for Human Rights in Iran previously reported that more than 40 environmentalists were recently arrested in Iran. In April, Iran’s now former-deputy head of the department of environment, Kaveh Madani, resigned and left the country amid the widening crackdown.

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